


Strange Beginnings

by imightbejehan



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Rating May Change, Seven Days AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-06 06:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11030412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imightbejehan/pseuds/imightbejehan
Summary: Narukami Yu is infamous at Inaba for his one week flings. Every Monday, he will accept the first confession he receives, but when Sunday comes around he will always tell them this: "I'm sorry, I couldn't fall in love with you."Does Hanamura Yosuke even stand a chance?





	1. Monday

**Author's Note:**

> lol i was gonna write a really long angsty time loop au but my hands wanted to write this instead
> 
> i picked narukami yu because its more fun to say than seta souji but i still love souji dont get me wrong

     Yosuke stared out the window, watching a few girls in the courtyard gather before home room. He waved when they looked up at him, but they scrunched up their noses and giggled as the hurried away to class. He sighed, draping the upper half of his body across his desk. A swift kick to the legs of his chair jolted him out of his moping.

     “Hey what the hell!”

     “Jeez Yosuke, at least try to look a little bit more lively in the mornings. You're bringin down the atmosphere.” Chie glared at the boy, crossing her arms as she pouted.

     “Ugh I'm not in the mood Chie.”

     “Rejected again?”

      Yosuke dropped his head again. “I don't wanna talk about it.”

      “It's probably that negative mood you got going on y’know, and the fact that you're always breakin other people's stuff.”

       “Let it go Chie I already bought you lunch for that disk! Besides, it wasn't my fault my bike chain popped off!”

       “Doesn't make up for the fact that it's still broken.”

       “Are you still going on about that, Chie?” Yosuke turned his head to look up from his elbow at the sound of Yukiko's voice.

       “Yukiko save meee,” he pleaded, reaching a hand out towards her like a beggar.

        She giggled. “ I don't think there is a way to save anyone from Chie’s wrath.”

        “Hey, hey Yukiko I just got a great idea. Why don't you date me? Chie can't do anything to me then if I have you.”

        “No thanks!” Yukiko's rejection was as chipper as her greetings.   
         Chie rolled her eyes and sighed as dramatically as she could muster. “I don't even know why you try anymore.”

         Yosuke shrugged as best he could draped over the desk. “It was worth a shot.”   


         Class began and ended in a haze in which Yosuke was only drawn out of when Chie slammed her hands on his desk and demanded they order beef bowls from Aiya’s.

         “You gotta pick it up from the gate though,” she said, ending her call to the restaurant.

         “What why?”

          “Uh, you still owe me, duh. You're lucky I'm not making you pay for all of it Hanamura.”

          “Chie why you gotta be so cold!” The girl in question only stuck her tongue out in reply, leaving Yosuke to surrender to his fate. He opened his mouth to ask for the money, but the gossiping of some neighboring girls cut him off.

          “Have you seen him yet?”

          “No, someone said he was sick so he might not even come to school today.”

          “No fair! I wanted my shot at Narukami today.”

          “Ah, Narukami isn't here yet,” Yukiko said, more of a statement than a question.

          “Narukami Yu? Like that transfer student?”

          “Jeez Yosuke at least pretend to pay attention to what goes on,” Chie scolded. “Of course it's Narukami the transfer student.”

          “Yeah, yeah I just don't see what the big deal is.”

          “It's Monday,” both girls said, as if it were the most obvious thing.

           “Well no shit, that's why we’re at school.”

           “No, it's Monday dumbass, the start of the week! The day when he picks his new girlfriend.”

           “At the end of each week he tells them, “I couldn't fall in love with you” and breaks it off, but he'll always say yes to the first person who asks him out come Monday morning.”

           “Oh that's right! Yuki, didn't you date him a few weeks ago?”

            Yukiko smiled at Chie. “Sure did!”

            “Why do you seem so happy about it? Seems like a bit of a jackass to me,” Yosuke growled.

            “Hey, don't be so mean just because you can't get a date!”

            “Yeah yeah,” Yosuke waved Chie off and stood up from his seat. “I'll wait at the gate for the food. Keep gossiping amongst yourselves.”

            He knew he didn’t need to rush, that the delivery wouldn’t be waiting at the gate for him, but Yosuke didn’t want to remain cooped up in that conversation any longer. He didn’t pay too much attention to the new kid himself, but that didn’t stop everyone else from blubbering on and on about how great Narukami Yu is. Yosuke kicked a locker as he walked past, causing a few worried looks in his direction.

              Sure. He was bitter. There was no way anyone could convince him not to be. He had been the new kid this time the year before, but no one had given him the time of day like they give Narukami.

              “God, what’s so good about the kid anyway?” he mumbled to himself, sitting down at the gate’s steps. “So what if he’s from Tokyo or wherever the hell he came from. Doesn’t mean he’s some big shot.”

              After a few more minutes of waiting Yosuke was shaken from his thoughts by a pebble hitting his shoe. He looked up quickly, expecting to see his food waiting for him but instead he looked up straight into a pair of gray eyes peering back at him. Yosuke jumped in his seat, surprised at suddenly being face to face with Narukami Yu. The boy in question just smiled in Yosuke’s direction, but didn’t move to enter the school beyond him.

              “Running late today eh?” Yosuke bit his lip, cursing his awkward need to fill the silence with conversation. He had forgotten his headphones back in the classroom.

              “Well, yes. I had to help with Nanako this morning before I left.”

              “Oh, is that your girlfriend for the week?”

              Narukami seemed surprised by the comment, but only showed it by the slight widening of his eyes. He took it in stride. “Not exactly, but I didn’t know you knew about that.”

              “C’mon man! Everybody knows about you Mr. Playboy. Even if you weren’t dating a new girl every week, you are the new kid after all.”

              “It’s reached even your ears then, Hanamura.”

              “Jeez not like it’s some crazy feat. I do still have ears underneath those headphones.” Narukami leaned against the gate next to Yosuke while they talked, he smiled down at the brunet but didn’t make any sound to continue the conversation. Yosuke filled in instead. “So, then you go out with anyone, yeah? Even if they’re not your type?”

              “My type?” Narukami looked away to lean his head back while he thought about it. “I don’t really have a type. I don’t care too much about looks, but I guess if I had to pick, your kind of face is nice.”

              “EH?” Yosuke scrambled up from his spot on the steps to face Narukami, but quickly looked away again to hid his spreading blush. “What do you mean by that?”

              “Hmm, I guess it’s just that you look kind.”

              Yosuke opened his mouth, but quickly slammed it shut again. He didn’t know how to respond – that was after all probably the nicest thing anyone had said to him about his face. Usually it was just that he was plain, that he always looked so bored and depressed, but never kind. In that way, he justified the next words out of his mouth.

              “Then why don’t we date then? I’m guessing you haven’t been asked yet huh?”

              Narukami reacted with the same moderate amount of surprise at he did before, but when he opened his mouth to respond, another voice sounded.

              “Are either of you a Hanamura?” The two boys turned towards the new comer, a part time delivery worker from Aiya’s.

              “That’s me!” Yosuke bounced over, feeling his pockets for the cash that Chie had just given him, but then it hit him – he didn’t actually have the money. He had meant to ask, but the gossip over Narukami had gotten in the way and now he stood in front of his delicious beef bowls and had no money to pay for them. “Oh shit, uh man can you wait here for like two minutes I forgot the money back in the classroom uh-“

              “How much is it?” Narukami came up during the transaction, pulling his own wallet from his pockets.

              “2,000 yen.”

              Before Yosuke could protest, the boy had already paid the delivery boy and deposited the food into his waiting hands.

              “Fuck. I’m so sorry, I’ll pay you back later okay?”

              “Don’t mind,” was Narukami’s only answer before he walked through the gate into the school, leaving Yosuke to clamber in behind him.

              Class dragged on after lunch, Yosuke’s belly stuffed full to the brim and lulling him into a dazed state all of class. He was only half awake when King Moron called out that a few of the students would be switching seats. Yosuke didn’t think too hard on it as he wasn’t one called upon, until a grey head of hair materialized in his vision. Once settled in, Narukami turned slightly to shoot Yosuke a wink before returning his attention to the front of the room.

              Yosuke slouched, squinting at the back of the new boy’s head in front of him. Narukami Yu was some sort of enigma. He didn’t know why Narukami was suddenly being friendly with him, or even talking to him like earlier. He seemed to have no problem socializing with people, but when he thought back to all the times and places he has seen the other boy Yosuke realized that he only ever saw him with other girls.

              _He must want a guy friend_ , Yosuke realized. _It probably gets tiring always trynna keep up appearances around all those girls._

              _Not that you would know_ , his inner voice reminded him.

              Before long, the bell rang and signaled the end of class, and the end of his inner turmoil for the time being. Yosuke began to back up, spotting his wallet at the bottom of his bag as he remembered to pay Narukami back for Aiya’s earlier. When he sat up to say something to the boy, he found him already looking at him.

              “Oh, sorry you had to wait so long.” Yosuke slid a few bills over the desk towards Narukami. “Thanks again man, you really saved my ass.”

              Narukami folded up the bills carefully, taking the time to crease the edges with his long fingers, before reaching over and shoving the paper into the shirt pocket of Yosuke’s summer uniform. “I told you, don’t mind it.”

              “What? Nah man I can’t just-“

              “I was hoping we could walk home together today,” Narukami interrupted seamlessly, “if you don’t have any plans already.”

              “I, um, gotta go to work today.”

              “Then, where do you work?”

              Yosuke squinted at the other for the second time that day, putting up his guard. It felt like Narukami was trying to play some joke on him. Everyone knew what Yosuke did. “I work at Junes.”

              “That’s great then! I’ve been meaning to stop by and pick up some ingredients for miso. I’ll walk you there, if you don’t mind.”

              “Well, I guess that’s fine.” Yosuke didn’t know what to do. Narukami genuinely didn’t seem to know of Yosuke as the Prince of Junes, nor know that Junes had such a bad rap in little Inaba. He had no choice but to go along with the other’s whims.

              Narukami didn’t talk much, that much Yosuke found out on the short walk to the department store. He responded politely to any question Yosuke asked, but didn’t make any moves to talk outside of that. Like at lunch, Yosuke filled in the conversation, talking about anything he could think of even if it may not have been of any interest to his conversation partner.

              As they neared the entrance and Yosuke got ready for his awkward goodbye, Narukami spoke up.

              “Can I have your number? It seems that I forgot to ask earlier.”

              “Huh? Oh yeah, here let me see your phone.” Narukami passed off his phone for Yosuke to quickly type in his number. “I can’t text when I’m on the job, but just shoot me a message and I’ll save your number too.”

              “Sunshine… Shellfish?” Narukami read off, staring at the name typed into his screen. Yosuke blushed and scrambled to recover.

              “No, no, I prefer the other reading, ‘jammed in’, like all this sunshine jammed in to a human body, y’know what I mean? Oh god now that I say that out loud that’s embarrassing.”

              “Ah,” Narukami looked into Yosuke’s eyes and gave a small smile, “it’s fitting. Can I call you that from now on?”

              “Sunshine jammed in? Hell no dude that’s embarrassing!”

              “No, I mean Yosuke.”

              “Oh. Well, I guess that’s fine. I’ll call you Yu from now on then too, since it’s only fair.”

              Yu let out a small chuckle and held out his hand for a handshake. “It’s a deal, Yosuke.”

              For the entirety of his shift at Junes, Yosuke couldn’t get that laugh out of his head. Yu was strange. He was friendly, but at the same time he was so distant. Startled, Yosuke realized that in the months since Yu had moved to the school in Inaba he had never really seen the boy laugh, just shoot those small smiles out into the world.

              Later that night when Yosuke lay in bed drifting off to the steady beat in his headphones he thought back to how strange of a person Yu seemed to be, eventually landing on their conversation earlier at lunch. He sat up, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine. Yu was acting awfully friendly, awfully fast.

              “It can’t be… He actually took me seriously back then?”

              Yosuke had a hard time getting to sleep after the rest of the night, his mind constantly reminding him of the fact that he may have accidentally got himself a boyfriend.


	2. Tuesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu may have been a bit naive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly, i think Tuesday is one of my favorite days in the manga. poor Yu is not ready for the emotional roller coaster of dating yosuke 
> 
> also, I apologize but i don't have a beta so there may be spelling mistakes that i didn't catch.

Yu had woken up before the phone call. He had initially been pretending that he could fall back asleep, but the insistent buzzing on his bed side table snapped him out of that false dream quickly.

“Good morning, Mother.”

The garbled answer Yu was sure meant good morning as well, but he moved out of bed to the corner of the room for better signal just to make sure. From there, he could look out the window and watch the small town wake up as he prompted his mother to continue speaking.

“I hope you’ve been spending some time reflecting on your actions.”

“I can promise you I have been thinking very hard about my future.” Yu could hear her quiet huff and knew exactly what face she was making at his words.

“We just want what is best for you. I don’t see why you can’t be back home for this. Your father has been very disappointed in you.”

“Inaba is nice Mom. I know you don’t think that the country has very much to offer but the school is good and the people are very friendly.”

“You’re wasting your time there. After your year is up you will realize this.”

“Until then, I will make sure to enjoy the time you have allowed me.”

“One year, Yu. You are lucky your father approved that much to begin with, so don’t forget yourself.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to tell Uncle Dojima you called and said hello.”

His mother was silent for a moment, making Yu think she had already hung up the call until she let out a little puff of air he almost took for a laugh. “Make sure to call home more often okay?”

She ended the call before he could respond. From his view through the window, Yu watched Dojima climb into his car. The older man started the car, placing his head on the steering wheel for a moment before driving off to start a long day of work at the detective agency. Yu had lied when he told his mother he would tell Dojima she called. Dojima had lied when he told Nanako that he would be home when she woke up last night over dinner.

So, he made his way down the hall to her room, checking on the young girl before he got ready for school. The day before, she had gotten sick with some sort of stomach flu that caused her to throw up anything she managed to get down all morning. She had told Yu repeatedly that she could take care of herself, but all he could think of were his own childhood days sick and spending them making his own porridge and miso while his parents worked. He had stayed home taking care of her until the worst subsided and she had settled into a deep sleep.

When he peeked in, Nanako was already awake and watching him.

“Good morning, sunshine. How are you feeling today?”

Nanako smiled at Yu’s nickname for her. “Much better, really. You don’t have to worry so much.”

“Alright, well I’m going to get dressed and heat up some miso. I want you to check your temperature and report back to me for breakfast.”

“You got it,” Nanako said, shooting Yu a small salute before he left. He wasn’t entirely sure that she was feeling better, but he had other issues to attend to before he showered and finished to his other morning chores.

Yu opened his phone once in his room again, keying to his contact list. There were only five saved names, so it wasn’t hard to find the name he was looking for. He lay out his uniform for the day while he waited for the call to connect.

“Hnnmn uh yeah? Who?”

Yu grinned at the mess of a hello Yosuke had croaked out. “Good morning.”

“Oh, Narukami?” Yosuke seemed more awake, but still confused.

“I told you that you could call me Yu.”

“Uh yeah, I guess I forgot.” A beat of silence. “But, uh, Yu? You why did you call me it’s like 6 am?”

“To be precise it is 6:47. I thought I would give you a call and say good morning, and check if you were getting up soon.”

“Dude. I’m up now but jeez the first bell doesn’t ring til 8, why the hell would I be up already?”

“Because you need to get ready for school of course.”

Yosuke groaned on the other end of the call. “It takes me like 10 minutes though.”

“Well, you are free to go back to sleep then. I just thought I’d check on you.”

“Look man, I appreciate it but no there’s no way I can go back to bed now.”

“Then how about we meet up before class and walk together?”

“You planned this from the beginning didn’t you.”

Yu couldn’t help but smile at the suspicion in Yosuke’s voice. “Maybe. I’ll have food ready for you so don’t eat breakfast.”

There was silence for a moment before Yosuke puffed out a long sigh. “Okay, I never eat anyways. I’ll meet you out by the flood plain.”

“I’ll see you at 7:30, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. This food better be worth getting out of bed so early.”

“I promise, I’ll even use my secret ingredient.”

“Bye Yu.”

“Bye Yosuke.”

Yu was still smiling down at his phone when Nanako peeked her head in.

“Big Brother, are you okay?”

“Oh, yes, sorry I haven’t heated up the miso yet.”

“I didn’t hear the shower running yet so I got worried.”

Yu grabbed his uniform and walked to his cousin waiting at the door. He patted her head as he passed, checking her forehead for a fever. “I’m fine, I’ll be showering now so go ahead and get dressed as well.”

 

After realizing he didn’t have enough time for anything too fancy, Yu whipped up some onigiri from the rice he made along with the miso. They were decent, and a solid quick meal, so he figured Yosuke couldn’t complain too much.

When he got to the flood plain Yosuke was already there sitting in the dewy grass. Yu had previously spent time in school catching glances of the other boy, as it was hard not to find his eyes pulled towards the boy who was loud and energetic and constantly trying to be the center of attention in some way. But it was different here. Yosuke sat silent, legs pulled up to his chest and his arms folded but relaxed on top of his knees. He faced away from Yu, his head tilted just enough as it rested on his arms so that Yu could see his calm expression and as he closed his eyes and listened to the music pumping through his headphones. The sun shone down on Yosuke at a perfect angle that lit up his hair and cheekbones, creating an effect like he was somehow glowing. Yu thought back to how Yosuke considered how his kanji should be read and couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

He approached slowly, trying not to startle the other, but Yosuke jumped when Yu sat down next to him anyway.

“Gah! Don’t sneak up on people like that!”

“Sorry, but you weren’t paying attention anyway.” Yu motioned to the headphones still covering his ears.

Yosuke stuck out his tongue, but pulled the headphones down onto his neck. “Hush. Now, where is this promised food?”

Yu pulled the small box from his backpack and opened it for Yosuke. “There are a few different fillings because I didn’t know what you liked.”

Yosuke’s face lit up with a smile, but when he reached to grab on of the onigiri he stopped short. “Wait, there’s no tofu in any right?”

“No. Are you allergic?”

He bit into the triangle of rice and contemplated Yu’s question. “Well I guess its fine to tell you. I just really hate the texture, but people used to try to get me to eat it all the time no matter what I said. I started tellin everyone that I’m allergic so they would stop. It worked at least.”

“I see,” Yu nodded along as he pulled out his own onigiri to snack on. “I’ll keep your secret then.”

“Thanks man.” Yosuke nudged his shoulder into Yu’s catching him off guard. When he looked over again, Yosuke was smiling brightly at him. “You’re not half bad.”

“That’s good to know.”

“And you’re cookin isn’t bad either! Better watch out or I’ll start expecting breakfast daily.”

“I don’t mind. I make breakfast every morning anyway.”

“Psh, you say that now!”

Yu watched the other boy scarf down the rest of the food and stand up, stretching as he faced the sun before shooting another one of his smiles down at Yu and extending a hand. Yu took it, surprised by the callus’ on Yosuke’s fingertips against his own hands.

 _No_ , he thought to himself, _if it’s like this I really don’t think I would mind at all._

 

At lunchtime, Yu was slightly disappointed that he had to help the drama club run a few last-minute lines which prevented him from joining Yosuke and his friends. So as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the day, he turned around immediately to catch Yosuke’s eyes before he packed up his things.

“Do you have any plan’s today?”

Yosuke jumped, shocked by suddenly being spoken to. Yu almost laughed at how expressive the boy was. “I don’t work today, so nah.”

“Would you like to walk home together today then?”

There was a moment of silence as Yosuke stared back. Yu pondered for a bit, thinking perhaps he had spoken a little too softly, before Yosuke choked out a response. “Uh, yeah sure, but Yu can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

Yosuke looked away quickly, forgoing any eye contact to stare out the window. “Never mind, I’ll ask you later I guess.”

“Oh, are you guys friends now?” A person asked from behind Yu. He turned to see one of Yosuke’s friends, Chie if he remembered correctly. Before he could say anything, words were already rushing out of Yosuke’s mouth.

“Don’t make it sound like it’s that crazy that I actually have friends!”

“Well seeing as you knew nothing about Narukami yesterday morning I would say yeah, its kind weird.”

“I’ll have you know that a lot can happen in a day.” Yosuke huffed and grabbed his bag, starting his way to the door before turning around to address Yu. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Yu nodded his acknowledgement and turned to Chie. “Sorry, it was nice speaking with you.”

Chie waved a hand to dismiss the apology from the air. “Don’t worry about it. You should probably hurry up though before he gets all mopey and sulky.”

“Will do.”

 

Yosuke rambled on until the two reached the same flood plains as that morning. Yu kept quiet, listening to the multitude of stories that Yosuke had picked up over the course of his time at Inaba. The sudden silence when Yosuke stepped off the pavement and into the grass was unsettling to Yu after that constant conversation, but he figured that this was Yosuke’s way of telling him that he was ready to talk about what he mentioned earlier.

“Hey, Yu?”

“Mhm?” Yu walked forward a step to stand by the other, but Yosuke kept his gaze straight forward.

“Are we like… Dating right now?”

“Yes?” Yu meant to voice his response as a statement, but his confusion got the best of him. He remembered very clearly Yosuke asking him to date him yesterday, unless –

“Oh.” Yosuke was quiet, avoiding eye contact. Yu studied his profile as he waited for him to continue. “Then you really do accept any confession no matter what, huh?”

“It’s not like – “

“I guess I’ll have to make the most of it then, right? This week will be perfect practice!”

“Practice?” Yu felt his blood run cold.

“Duh, for when I get my first girlfriend. This is a perfect opportunity for me to see what it’s like to actually date someone.”

“Yosuke, I don’t think you – “

“Alright then, Partner,” Yosuke finally turned to Yu, shooting him a wink as he spoke, “it’s already Tuesday which means I only have a few more days to test out all my date ideas, so tonight we are gonna go out!”

Yosuke turned abruptly, making his way back up the path to town and leaving Yu with nothing else to do but follow behind him. He watched Yosuke’s back, trying to figure out what went wrong. He was a fool. Yosuke had clearly asked, but Yu realized then that he hadn’t seen it for the joke that it was. He clenched his hand against the strap of his bag.

_This isn’t a game._

 

Per Yosuke’s request, they boarded the train and made their way to Okina. His babbling stories returned, but this time Yu found himself unable to focus on them.

He was unsure of what to do. He did know that if he did end up falling in love with Yosuke in the week he had allotted them that Yosuke would not return his feelings and it would mean nothing in the end.

_I need to tell him… I need to stop this. There is no point in continuing on like this…_

Yu knew this, but every time he looked over to Yosuke and thought about telling him, the words evaporated on his tongue before he got a chance to voice them.

A new tone in Yosuke’s voice stopped his thinking and drew him back to the present. The train was unloading at Okina Station.

“Hey Partner?”

“What is it?”

“Can we make a promise right now?”

“A promise?”

Yosuke looked away, something Yu had begun to notice meant that Yosuke was about to say something that he thought was probably embarrassing. “That if you aren’t enjoying yourself that you’ll tell me.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

“We’ll start now okay? So if you don’t want to be here, you can tell me.”

Yu couldn’t help but smile. “We’re already here, Yosuke. It’s a bit of a waste to say something now.”

“Wait do you really – “

“But,” Yu interrupted before Yosuke could spiral off again, “I’m happy to be hanging out with you right now so don’t worry.”

“Okayy… It’s just that you’re really quiet. Sorry for talking so much.”

“Oh, sorry. I don’t mean to be. It’s a bit of a habit of mine.”

“Well,” Yosuke finally turned to meet Yu’s gaze again, “it’s a good thing we’re gonna see a movie then!”

“Only if you pick it.” Yu returned his smile.

“I’m glad you said that! I am known for my excellent taste in movies after all. I’m sure you’ll love the one we’re gonna see!”

 

The movie wasn’t bad, but Yu’s favorite part of the night was dozing off on the train ride home, Yosuke’s head resting on his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! 
> 
> I was hoping to do a bi-weekly thing but i think next week will only have one update because i have an exam and project due earlier on in the week. after that my sched clears up! 
> 
> this has been super fun to write so far, so i hope you've enjoyed reading it <3
> 
> ps. the secret ingredient for onigiri is love


	3. Wednesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke may have gone over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said the same thing about tuesday but wednesday is one of my favorite days.

They planned to meet again in the morning before school. Yosuke could tell that his mother was worried that he had left the house two days in a row at the same time as his father, but she did nothing but shoot him glances out the corner of her eye.

He wanted to tell her that there was nothing to worry about, just that he made a friend that seemed to actually enjoy his company, but he still felt strange about the situation. Technically, Yu wasn’t his friend. Yosuke didn’t even know how Yu thought of him to begin with, since he may just be going along with the act until the week ended. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, clutching the strap on his bag. Sure, he had made Yu promise to tell him if he wasn’t digging hanging out, but he still didn’t know how much he could trust the other boy. Would he just break up with him when he got to the flood plain? Would he go along with everything for a good laugh?

Yosuke forced his legs to resume walking and his thoughts to stop. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling about Yu, nor the situation he was in with dating Yu. He reminded himself that whatever Yu’s motives were, it was fine since they were only practice dating after all.

Like the day before, Yu wasn’t there yet so Yosuke plopped down on the grass and prepared for the wait.

 

“So, won’t you tell us who you’re dating this week?”

Yosuke had only turned away for a moment after sitting down in the classroom to grab his notebooks – for doodling not notetaking of course – before Chie had jumped in and dropped the bomb on Yu. He felt his heart seize in his chest as he looked up and waited for the man in question to say something.

“Chie, that’s not something we need to talk about this early in the morning.”

“Chie,” Yukiko approached, saving Yu from Chie’s comeback, “you know he never tells, right?”

“Psh, I was just wondering. Figured I’d give it a least a shot.”

The crew dispersed to find their seats as class began, but Yosuke couldn’t focus on the lesson. His heart had resumed it duty in his chest, but he felt conflicted about the exchange. He could tell Yu wasn’t gonna out him, and he felt that Yu was more trust worthy that he had originally bargained for. Yet, at the same time, he was mad that Chie and Yukiko didn’t know that he, the boy they had dubbed as never going to be able to find a date, was dating Mr. Popular himself. Yosuke wanted them to know, wanted to see the shock and awe on their faces when he told them, but he knew that if he came out know it would be treated as nothing but a joke.

He couldn’t blame them. It was a joke – or at least it was supposed to be one. Yu wasn’t supposed to agree when he asked him out, much less take it as seriously as he had been. Yosuke didn’t know what to do with the kindness Yu had shown him so far, which led to his panic the night before.

Practice dating. Yosuke knew it was dumb. Who the hell has to _practice_ dating anyways? But Yu had graciously gone along with it.

 _Maybe he’s just used to this shit._ Yosuke thought, staring blankly up at the black board. _Cause for him, no matter what, its over in a week. Cause for him this week doesn’t matter._

 

Yu was there at his desk like clockwork.

“Let’s eat lunch together.”

Yosuke agreed, but rushed Yu up to the rooftop after a side eye from Chie. He knew it was weird that someone like him was hanging out with someone like Yu, but he still didn’t want attention drawn to it again.

Once they were seated and eating, Yosuke tried for a conversation. “So, you’ll just be dominating all my free time from now on huh?”

“I thought that it would be nice to hang out,” Yu looked up to meet Yosuke’s eyes as he spoke, frowning ever so slightly. “Would you rather I not?”

“Partner, that promise goes both ways. I’ll tell ya if it bothers me.”

“That’s good to know.”

“And anyways,” Yosuke said, looking away again, “you’re not bad company. I mean, you’re pretty quiet and all but it’s nice. Calming even.”

Yu’s only response was a small hum in acknowledgement. His relative silence wasn’t uncharacteristic, but the hint of red at the tops of his cheekbones was. Yosuke coughed and hid his own blush in a bite of melon bread.

“So,” he spoke around a mouthful of the bread, “you seem like a busy guy, and I’ve never seen you around at lunch. Though, I guess now that I think about it you were probably hangin out with your girlfriend.”

“Sometimes I do, but more often than not I’m helping with club activities.”

“Club?”

“Yes, Wednesday is usually my only free day because I help out with drama and the basketball club. Sometimes I help with band as well.”

“The hell? How can you do all of that and still do so well in school?”

Yu let out a small chuckle. “I wonder that myself, occasionally. I try to balance my time between after school and lunch periods for clubs because they’re usually on the same days, and then study in the evenings.”

“And the dates?”

“I work with their schedule, of course.”

“Ah, so that’s why you do things like walk me to work and stuff.”

“I believe it’s important to find time, even for small gestures.”

“I’m totally gonna have to steal that from you. No wonder all the girls can’t be mad at you.”

“What do you mean?”

Yosuke shuffled a bit, staring at his juice box as he spoke. “I’ve overheard so many girls talkin about you, y’know? And I always thought, ‘Well if he dumps you in the end, then what’s the point? Why do you still like him after?’ But I think I get it now.”

“You get it?”

“Oh, totally, and I’ll be stealing your moves for when I get myself a real girlfriend.” Yosuke smirked over at his partner. “But I won’t be stealing your weekly gimmick, I think that’s too much to expect from me.”

Yu looked down into his food, refusing to meet Yosuke’s eyes for the first time. “I understand.”

 

After school, Yosuke found himself sitting at the gazebo, alone once again. Yu had gotten called out by the basketball team captain, Ichijo, and had to meet with him about something, but not before he promised Yosuke that he would meet him by the floodplains. Yosuke couldn’t be mad. Just like he said at lunch; he understood why people couldn’t be mad at Yu. He stretched himself thin, doing anything he could, but still made enough time to make the individual feel important. That and the fact the Yosuke would usually be alone in his house anyway and what could be so different about just being alone and outside.

Expect, that it was raining. It was rainy season after all, the year leaning into the summer months and vacation fast approaching, so Yosuke knew he should have expected it. When he thought back to his umbrella sitting in the little cubby in the entryway he was reminded that hindsight really is 20/20.

He watched couples pass, sharing umbrellas as he sat under the slightly leaky roof and flipped through his music library. Every song was feeling a little too much but lackluster at the same time, most being soundtracks from action movies that he had downloaded recently. They were designed to keep the listener interested and strike a feeling in them, but he found he could only listen to about half the song before he was shuffling again. Nothing seemed to fit his mood, so he was happy rather than irritated when a tap on his shoulder shook him out of his trance.

“Oh, Yu I didn’t even hear you come.”

“You say you aren’t deaf under those, but I’m still having a tough time believing it.”

“Hey!” Yosuke reached out, giving a punch to the other boy’s shoulder. He hardly moved. Instead, Yu sat down next to him, prying off his soaking jacket to dry on the table. “Looks like you forgot an umbrella too.”

“I wasn’t expecting the rain to begin so early.”

“At least you knew it was gonna rain.”

“Well, you don’t look very wet.”

“I beat the rain! I don’t know if you heard but,” Yosuke reached down and patted his shins, “I am one of the fastest in our grade.”

“I had no idea I was in the presence of a celebrity, you should have told me.”

“Oh, shut up, I should be the one saying that, Mr. Popular!”

“Speaking of, I’m sorry again Yosuke. I didn’t know Kou wanted to run over some stuff with me and I made you wait in the rain.”

“Nah man, it’s fine. My mom would say it’s good for me to be outside anyway, even if I’m just sittin.”

Yu smiled and his shoulders released some of their tension. “That’s a relief.”

“I know we kinda talked about clubs and stuff earlier, but I do have another question.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you do it all? I mean, basketball, drama, band, studying, and even dating. That’s like, enough for 5 high school students and you do it all.”

“I want to experience as much as I can here, and it’s hard to not feel motivated when everyone here is so nice.”

Yosuke snorted. “You and I definitely have different opinions of Inaba and ‘nice’, but why the rush? It’s only second year.”

“I’ll probably be moving back to the city at the end of this year.”

“What?”

“It’s – it’s something I’m working out with my parents right now.”

Yosuke wasn’t sure what to say, nor what to do. He didn’t know what to do with the hurt he felt upon not knowing that Yu would be gone soon. “I probably won’t be much of a help but, if you ever need something you can talk to me, Partner.”

“Thanks, Yosuke.”

The two fell silent, watching the world pass by as they sat in their little shelter. Yosuke watched as a couple stopped in front of them and looked out on the rain. One must’ve said something, and soon both of their eyes had turned away from nature and rested on each other. It was automatic, the way they seemed to move in at the same time to share a kiss before moving on to the rest of their evening.

Yosuke couldn’t help but realize the situation he found himself currently in was kinda romantic. It felt like a scene in a movie, like if he were watching it unroll before him on the screen he would have been rooting for one of them to make a move. Or not, since he wasn’t a huge fan of romance movies.

 _If only one of us were a girl_. He bit his lip. The problem was, he wouldn’t change anything about Yu. He didn’t wish Yu was a girl. He wondered if Yu wished he was.

But then again, it didn’t matter. All the thinking about kissing brought back a memory from when Yukiko had been the week-long girlfriend. Chie had asked if the two had done anything yet, wanting all the gossip.

“No,” Yukiko had said, that dreamy expression of hers replaced by seriousness, “Yu never touches anyone more than he needs to.”

Yosuke looked over at Yu as he watched those passing. He wondered if they were really dating, what Yu would do. None of the week limit, none of the practice pretenses, but actually dating. He found the idea hard to believe in, but fun to think that someone as interesting and as kind as Yu could find something intriguing in him as well.

_Would Yu kiss me then?_

When Yosuke thought this, Yu turned as if feeling the other’s stare upon him. Yu met his gaze with a small smile.

_Would I kiss him, if this was real?_

Yu reached forward, towards Yosuke. He briefly wondered if there was lint on his shoulder or something in his hair before Yu’s hand was on his neck guiding him closer. He didn’t think enough to close his eyes as he was kissed, only letting them slip shut as Yu pulled away again.

“Oh,” he said, “I’ve been tricked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i'm so sorry for the delay! my roommates moved back in and i went home for the weekend so i've been running around everywhere. 
> 
> hope this chapter makes up the little wait! thank you for sticking with me and these poor boys <3


	4. Thursday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu has an epiphany

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh this is a little bit shorter and def unedited I'm sorry for any mistakes!! i'll edit later lol

“I’ve been tricked.”

The words played over and over again in Yu’s head as he lay in bed, listening to his alarm ring out in the otherwise silent room. He couldn’t move to shut it off; he felt too lethargic after a night of barely any sleep, and restless sleep at that.

He felt like he should have been the one to say those words, not Yosuke. Yu had found himself once again caught in the middle of Yosuke’s practice dating game without noticing, and he was paying the price.

Working up the courage, he rolled over and switched off the beeping alarm. He knew no matter how exhausted he might feel, he had to go on with his day.

 _How do I interact with him now?_ Yu thought, poking at his eye bags while looking in the mirror. They were the worst he’s ever seen them. _What kind of face do I make? What kind of face will he make?_

It was no use, however. Yu knew that no matter how many situations and reenactments he came up with in his mind, Yosuke was too unpredictable.

_I’ll just have to stop falling for his tricks._

 

Surprisingly, Yosuke had not been waiting for Yu at their meeting place, but had shown up a few minutes after Yu. He didn’t say anything about the kiss the night before, just smiled, laughed, and apologized for making Yu wait.

It was comforting that nothing had changed; that Yosuke didn’t seem ready for their relationship to drop off into awkwardness. But at the same time, Yu felt that he wanted Yosuke to acknowledge that it had happened. He didn’t want the feeling of Yosuke’s chapped lips against his and the feeling of tangling his fingers into his hair to be just some fever dream. He wanted it to be real.

He watched Yosuke as he walked beside him, talking about the homework he didn’t do the night before. Yosuke stared ahead, as if he didn’t notice eyes upon him, or he didn’t want to meet Yu’s. Either way, he didn’t care, just took the time to study the other’s features.

Yosuke’s eyebrows were just slightly darker than the rest of his hair, Yu’s first clue that he dyed his hair for that caramel color. When Yu first saw him in class when he moved, it had all been a solid color, but now his dark roots were starting to peek through. He briefly wondered if he should offer to help Yosuke touch them up, but figured that he might not want people to call him out on his false hair color. Not that Yu even knew how to dye hair to begin with, but he found himself trying to think of a reason to touch it again.

The corner of Yosuke’s eyes crinkled up as he laughed at his own joke, forming mini crow’s feet at the edges. Yu smiled softly in response, less from the actual joke and more from Yosuke’s reaction to it. It was amazing to Yu how unafraid Yosuke was to express himself. The way he let his emotions out without seeming to realize it was something Yu found himself envious of, but he would never change that part about Yosuke.

Suddenly, Yu found his stare being met with Yosuke’s own. He kept eye contact, waiting for something, but Yosuke looked away quickly.

“Hey, partner, can I ask you something?”

“Always.”

Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck. Yu’s eyes traced the movement, following the way his hand dropped back down close enough for him to reach out and grab.

“Y’know Yukiko? The girl in our class that you dated before? Why don’t you guys still talk or hang out? I can’t imagine her being mad about you guys breaking up or something, cause she’s so nice. Maybe we can all hang out sometime, like go to Aiya’s or something.”

“Yukiko is very nice –“

“Right? Though she can be kinda mean, but it’s mostly cause she’s just so blunt.”

“ – but I don’t hang out with the people I’ve dated after we break up.”

Yosuke whipped his head around to face Yu, his brows furrowing. “Wait, what do you mean? Even if they’re nice?”

Yu clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “It’s not that I feel anything ill towards them, but how would you feel if the person you are dating gives more time to another, especially someone that they dated before.”

“Oh.”

“I mean it only as a kindness to who I am dating.”

“So, that’s gonna be me too next week isn’t it – the one you leave behind.”

Yu remained silent, stunned by the hurt that swam at the edges of Yosuke’s eyes. He wanted to tell him that it wasn’t up to him in the end. He wanted to tell him to stop playing with him. He wanted to ask Yosuke to tell him what that hurt meant – what he wanted from him. But he didn’t.

“Guess I shouldn’t have expected any different, since we aren’t really dating anyways.”

 

Class went by in a blur for Yu. He managed to pay attention for the most part, and even helped Yosuke answer a question when he was called on out of the blue. He was still surprised though when lunch began and Yosuke tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, thanks for helping me out Partner. I hate when King Moron calls on me just cause he knows I’m zoning out.”

“Maybe you should try paying attention then.”

“Hmm,” Yosuke pretended to think, but his smirk gave him away, “but that’s what you’re for!”

Yu smiled up at him. “True.”

“Anyway, let’s head up to the roof and have some lunch, cool?”

“Sounds good.” Yu stood up and followed Yosuke to their usual lunch hangout. Yosuke was acting the same as usual, cracking his jokes and making small talk, but Yu could still feel a tension in the air.

Which was promptly broken by the ringing of his phone halfway through lunch.

“Sorry, I gotta get this,” he apologized to Yosuke before answering. “Hello?”

“Big Bro?”

“Nanako, what are you doing don’t you have school right now?” He could see Yosuke freeze beside him, food halfway to his mouth already.

“Well, we have a half day because of parent teacher conferences.”

“Oh? I had no idea. Has –“ Yu began, but a hand reached out and shut the flip phone. He turned to look at Yosuke, stunned at the strange gesture.

“Nanako.”

“Uh, yes she’s –“

“That was the name you said Monday too. What’s so special about her that means you can still talk to her while dating me?”

“Yosuke…”

“Y’know what, nevermind. I’m going for a walk.” Yosuke left, leaving behind a stunned Yu and his conbini bento.

He didn’t know what else to do, so he called Nanako back to apologize.

“Don’t worry Big Bro, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, I want you to be able to talk to me anytime.”

“Who was it?”

“Oh, uh, it was Yosuke, my boyfriend.”

“Do you like him? A lot?”

Yu looked down at the half-eaten bento laying open beside him and felt his stomach clench. “Yeah Nanako, I like him a lot.”

“Then it’s okay Big Bro, to spend time with him.”

“Thank you Nanako.”

 

Yosuke slammed his hands down on Yu’s desk as soon as the bell rang, startling Yu more than the shrill ring.

“I’m sorry!”

“Uh, what?”

“I’m sorry about lunch. I don’t know why I got so angry I’m just really tired.”

Yu felt his body relax, releasing the tension he had felt all afternoon. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. And anyway, I prefer to be tied down by my partner.”

He watched as Yosuke sputtered as his face lit up crimson. “Well that’s all I had to say, so I’m heading to work now. Text me or something tonight!”

Yu felt better as he watched the other boy scamper away. He couldn’t decide how to feel while dating Yosuke. He was constantly confused, stuck between falling for Yosuke’s jokes and being too wary. But, there was something about the boy that kept him coming back.

He did homework for a few hours after helping Kou with basketball practice, biding his time before he knew that Yosuke would be done with work at Junes. At 8 he called.

“Hello~ Hanamura Yosuke’s phone!” A bright and chipper voice answered.

“Hello, my name is Yu. Is Yosuke there?”

He waited a moment while the cheery boy screamed out Yosuke’s name until he got an answer.

“Ju~st a moment, Yu!”

“That’s fine, um…”

“Teddy, at your service!”

“Well, thank you Teddy.” Before he had a chance to say anything else, Teddy screamed out.

“PERVERT!”

There was a scramble on the other end of the phone, in which Yu thought he heard the phone drop and get picked up again at least three times before he heard Yosuke’s voice again.

“Ah, Yu? You there?”

“Yes, is this a bad time?”

“Nah, you’re fine. Sorry I was just taking a bath but my little brother freaked out. Which is dumb cause it’s not like it’s a big deal.”

“Oh,” Yu felt his face heat up, “you’re in the bath?”

“Mm, yeah. It was a long day so it’s nice to relax.”

“I’m sorry! I’ll call you back later!” Yu yelled, slamming his phone shut without waiting for Yosuke’s response.

 _Oh god_ , Yu fell into bed, shoving his face into his pillow. _Don’t think about it… Now I’m the pervert._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS meant to have this up earlier but i've been super invested in kingdom hearts lately. 
> 
> anyway, thank you again for reading. i love reading all your comments you guys are all so incredibly lovely <3
> 
> it's Yosuke's birthday soon and even though i have a big paper due that day i am for sure posting an update for the birthday boy!!


	5. Friday 1.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke forgets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH its almost midnight where i am so last minute happy birthday to the sunshine boy <3333

Yosuke was prepared for when Yu tapped his shoulder.

“Good morning!” he called out immediately. He didn’t feel the same awkwardness upon seeing his partner that he had felt the day before, after the kiss, but he still wondered about the incident the night before.

Yu smiled. “Good morning, Yosuke.”

“Did you have something to tell me last night? Or did you just wanna say goodnight?” Yosuke smirked over at the other boy, attempting to hide the awkwardness he felt about broaching the topic. He didn’t mind that Yu had called him, only to say nothing. He didn’t want to dance around Yu any more than he had been lately. He just wanted to know.

“Oh.” Yosuke watched out of the corner of his eye as Yu seemed to retreat slightly back into his polite shell. “You got me.”

“Psh, but Partner you didn’t even say goodnight in then end.”

“I got a little distracted because I remembered a last-minute thing I needed to do. Sorry again, Yosuke.”

“Nah bro, don’t worry about it.” Yosuke nudged Yu’s shoulder with his own as they began their way to class together. “But you do need prioritize sleep more, I think. You look exhausted.”

“Not that you’re looking any better!”

“Hey!” Yosuke shouted, stopping short for a moment while Yu laughed and kept walking into the school building. “I was trying to be nice you ass!”

 

Yu disappeared after they entered the classroom and dropped off their bags with the pretense of heading to the bathroom. Yosuke repeated his daily routine of pulling out his supplies before he was stopped by a hand on his desk. He looked up at Yukiko.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Uh,” his heart stopped in his chest for a moment. It seemed like anxiety was creeping in whenever he least expected it this last week. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was helping out at the inn a few days ago and I was given tickets to a new premiere by a family as a sort of tip, but I have to be at the inn at the night of the premiere so I thought you might want them?”

“Oh dude that’d be so cool!”

“Here,” she slid them across the desk, “there are two, so you can take whoever you would like.”

Yosuke grab the tickets as the bell rang. “Yukiko this is awesome thanks!”

She smiled as she sat down in her seat. “You’ve been really happy lately. I hope you can take the person who has been making you so happy with you.”

He didn’t have time to respond as the class began and Yukiko turned away, but that didn’t stop the quick flash of Yu’s face that popped up in his mind. Yosuke remembered his first “date” with Yu and falling asleep on his shoulder. He couldn’t wait to make it up to his partner and have a date that really counted.

The only thing that had him on edge was one word, or more like one name.

Nanako.

He didn’t know who she was, or what she was to Yu exactly but he knew she was important in the other boy’s life. Nanako was the only person he mentioned more than once, the only call he had answered when he was with Yosuke, and the only girl’s number he had saved in his phone besides his mother’s.

Scratching lines in his notebook, Yosuke looked up at the back of Yu’s head. He felt bad for snapping at him the day before, but he hadn’t been able to help the strange rage that had bubbled up inside of him. Yu told him that he didn’t stay in contact with the people he had dated before, so what was it about Nanako that made her special?

 

Before he knew it, it was lunch.

“Hey, Partner!”

“Mm, what’s the matter Yosuke?” The apprehension and politeness from earlier was gone from Yu’s expression, but he couldn’t keep the tiredness from his eyes.

“So, get this: I just scored two tickets to the new premiere at Okina. Wanna come with? I wanna make up for that movie date we had earlier cause I slept through like the entire movie.”

“When is it?”

“Hmm,” Yosuke scrambled to get the tickets from his bag, “Next weekend, Saturday. It’s perfect cause we have no school that day so we can hang out in the city for a while!”

Yu’s expression dropped and cooled, sealing up carefully under Yosuke’s excitement. “Next weekend?”

It took only one extra second for Yosuke to process what was happening. He dropped his eyes to the tickets, drilling his gaze into the date printed on the paper.

Next weekend.

It was Friday.

Next weekend, Yosuke and Yu’s charade would already be over and Yu will have found another weekly date. Just as he always did.

He opened his mouth, not sure what was going to even come out, but was interrupted by Kou bouncing in front the hallway.

“Yo, Narukami are you ready? I really need your help going over this play so you can’t back out on me this time.”

Yu looked from Kou to Yosuke, eyes unreadable. Yosuke waved a hand at him and smiled, not feeling it reach his eyes.

“We’ll talk about this after school okay? Wait for me, please.”

Yosuke nodded, unable to trust his voice. He stood in the same spot until Yu had exited the classroom, and only then did he allow himself to collapse into his seat.

The rest of the lunch period was quiet all around Yosuke as he picked away at his conbini bento. It could have been loud, with all the students kept up in the room instead of the courtyard to shelter themselves from the rain, but he couldn’t quite comprehend any of the noise.

The tickets felt like weights in his pants pockets where he stuffed the offending pieces of paper.

 

Yosuke waited for Yu after school. In the ten minutes that it took for Yu to confer with the band club he had already debated ditching about twenty times, not including all the times he spent thinking about just leaving school early all throughout class.

He knew he couldn’t though, but he didn’t know if he was doing this more for Yu or himself.

“Hey,” Yu was quiet when he approached, as if Yosuke was a small animal. “Thank you for waiting.”

“It’s no problem. My shift doesn’t start til six and we both know I’m not gonna do my homework before that.”

They shared a laugh before the air fell silent again.

“I’ll walk you to the floodplains then, if you would like.”

Yosuke knew Yu posed it as an offering, but no matter what he said the other boy was going to walk with him anyway. “Sure.”

He watched his partner as they walked side by side, taking care to look away again as soon as he felt that Yu might catch him. He hadn’t known Narukami just the week before, hardly even knew his name, but Yosuke felt that he had spent enough of the last week learning bits about the boy slowly, and he knew that Yu’s profile looked more than just tired now. He looked sad.

The grass of the floodplains approached too fast for his own liking. Yosuke had thought the quiet walk over had been awkward, but he would have traded anything to have that awkwardness back again.

A fog hung above them, the haze left over from the afternoon rains. It settled into dew drops against the grass on their feet and the tips of their eyelashes before a series of blinks could throw the drops off once again. The fog felt thick, as if Yosuke could reach out a hand into the grey and would pull back with a clump of cloud in his hand. It was suffocating.

“Here.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the white slips harsh enough to crumple the edges held in his fingertips. He thrust them towards Yu, keeping his eyes down.

“What –“

“I want you to go with whoever you’re dating next week.”

“Yosuke what do you mean?”

Yosuke lifted his head, trying for his best smile. “I want you to have them. I’ll probably be working anyways. You can, uh, take Nanako if you want.”

Yu reached for the tickets, carefully taking them from Yosuke’s shaking grip before his hands dropped to his sides like defeat. He didn’t even attempt a smile as he stared into Yosuke’s eyes and spoke. “You know, I was strangely happy when you yelled at me about the phone call yesterday. I felt like I needed it; that I needed to be shaken out of this strange daydream that I’ve been living in since coming to Inaba.”

“Yu,” the name still felt strange on his tongue, but Yosuke pushed on, “y’know you aren’t supposed to be happy about the person dating you yelling at you.”

“I just… wanted to tell you that I appreciate it. You being real with me.”

Yosuke felt his smile grow back into his real one. “We made a promise after all, I can’t go back on that.”

“Why is it so hard? All this time I thought it should be easy, liking someone like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okayyy so I'm actually going to be splitting friday into two parts because i'm crunched for time right now with finals and i want them to be unrushed.   
> and dang this would be one lonngg chapter if i didn't split it!! but this week will have a double upload so expect something within the next two days. 
> 
> happy bday Yosuke my fave boy
> 
> ps this is unedited i'm sorry!


	6. Friday 2.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke realized that he's fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> personally, while Friday isn't my favorite day this is one of my favorite chapters. things are moving in the plot and questions get answered ~

“Why is it so hard? All this time I thought it should be easy, liking someone like this.”

Yosuke froze, heart stopping briefly at Yu’s words. He allowed himself a moment in which this was Yu confessing to him, before he reminded himself that Yu belonged to Nanako.

“That’s because you have too much experience with people you don’t care about.” He could see Yu’s jaw tense, contemplating Yosuke’s words, so he continued. “Y’know, everyone would be so disappointed to hear that you finally have your eyes set on someone. She’s lucky.”

“Yosuke.”

“Partner?”

“Have you been told that you can be awfully slow sometimes?”

“What the hell?”

“From first glance one would think that you’re a relatively calm and collected person, but you’re loud and brash and have a tendency to speak your mind without thinking anything through.”

Yosuke took a step back, feeling a panic rising in his body. He clenched his hands into fists before shoving them in his front pockets and looking away to keep the tears in his eyes as Yu kept talking.

“You’re impulsive too, but you wear your heart on your sleeve and you have this,” Yu waved his hand about, like he was grasping for the words to say as he was speaking them, “this way with people where you know what to say at the best times because you are so stubbornly honest, and you have the brightest presence out of all the people I’ve ever met.”

Yosuke’s breath caught in his throat. His emotions went haywire, switches flipping on and off in his brain. He had gotten mixed messages from Yu before, but nothing like this.

 “You’re very refreshing, Yosuke.”

“Refreshing?”

“Yes, your personality is so unique. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself the time to gather the tears threatening their way out before he turned and looked back at Yu. The silver-haired boy had the same relatively impassive expression gracing his face, but he could tell his eyes were searching for Yosuke’s reaction and reading any cue he may be given.

“Thank you,” Yosuke managed to choke out once he knew he could speak again. Yu’s mouth softened into a slight smile, but he didn’t respond and instead waited for Yosuke to continue. “Y’know, I think you’re the only person who has said that – only person who will. People usually tell me I’m just annoying. When I have become friends with anyone it’s never really lasted and I’ve certainly never been as close to a person as I have been lately with you. Thank you, Yu.”

Yu tilted his head. Yosuke could tell that he had more to say, but all he voiced was a simple “No problem.”

Yosuke collected his growing feelings about Yu and tucked them into a vault deep in his heart only to be unlocked when he found himself alone later that night and finally ready to confront himself. He slung his arm over Yu’s shoulders and pulled him away from the grass of the floodplains. “Alright Partner, I’ve decided that we are gonna hang out tonight and I am personally volunteering you to make me a nice, home cooked meal!”

“Well, I do think I have the ingredients for some curry.”

“Great! Then onward! Lead me to the Narukami castle.”

“More like the Dojima castle.”

“Oh?”

“I’m staying with my uncle for the time being, while my parents stay in the city for work.”

“I didn’t know.” Yosuke let his arm slide of Yu’s back. “Do you miss them?”

“Not particularly. I call them every morning, and neither my mom or dad were around very often.”

“Why are you here in Inaba, by the way, when you’re alone?”

“I’m not completely alone, I still have the Dojima’s and they are family after all,” Yu sent a quick smile to assure Yosuke, “but as to why I’m in Inaba? That’s a bit of a long story that we can get to once our stomachs are filled.”

“Good plan! Now, how long til we get to this Dojima castle and eat some of this delicious curry?”

“Don’t worry about it, only a few more minutes, okay?”

 

Yosuke was surprised by the extreme normalness of the household. Granted, it was much bigger than the Hanamura house, but it was laid out like a traditional house with the right amount of modern touches. The entrance was small, but when he walked out the living room was spacious with just a table and pillows to sit on in the center of the tatami mat floor, when he looked closer he could see a couch pressed up against the wall, blending in. There was a table as the living room changed into the kitchen, but it looked to be hardly used.

Yu motioned to the living room as he walked to the kitchen.

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll just get everything started then we can do something while it simmers.”

“Ooh, do you have a game system or something? We could play for a bit if you want.”

“Yeah I have a few games sure.”

“Get ready Partner ‘cause I’m gonna whoop your ass!”

“May I ask in which game?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Yosuke cracked his knuckles and plopped down on a pillow. “I’ll beat you in anything we play.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a lie but okay.” Yu smiled at the other boy one last time before turning to the potatoes he started cutting up.

“You say that now! But I will have you know I am quite skilled.”

“I’m sure you are, Yosuke.”

Yosuke opened his mouth to retort, but the slamming of the front door interrupted him.

“Tadaima!” A soft voice called, signaling the entrance of a newcomer. Yosuke looked back and forth between Yu and the hallway. Yu tensed and set his knife down on the counter.

“Okairi, Nanako.”

Before the name was half out of Yu’s mouth Yosuke was standing up. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he looked around, still unable to choose where to look. He was about to meet Nanako; Yu’s crush, the one person that has been on his mind more than Yu. She was actually in the house.

Yosuke was not prepared.

“I thought I heard another voice through the door, is someone else here with you?”

“Yes, my,” Yu froze on the word, a long pause stretching as the two could hear Nanako taking off her shoes, “partner.”

“I’m so excited! You hardly ever bring anyone home!”

 _Excited?_ Yosuke thought, wondering about the personality of this girl. _Excited that Yu, who has a crush on you, brought his date home?_

Yosuke watched as Yu left the kitchen and stood next to the entrance of the living room, reaching out his hand for Nanako. “I’d like you to meet Hanamura Yosuke.”

He held his breath as a hand reached out and the rest of the girl followed into his vision.

“Yosuke, this is Dojima Nanako,” Yu continued, staring Yosuke straight in the eyes to watch his expression change.

“It’s so nice to meet you!” The young girl cheered, letting go of Yu’s hand to prance over to Yosuke and offer the same hand for a handshake. “Big Bro hardly ever brings home friends.”

“It’s – it’s nice to meet you too, I’ve uh, heard a lot about you.” Yosuke stumbled over his words, stunned by the cute, small, young brunette standing in front of him. He looked up at Yu, seeing the small blush paired with a smile on his partner’s face.

“Nanako, Yosuke is gonna join us for dinner if that’s alright. I’m making curry.”

“Perfect!” Nanako whirled around to face Yu again. “Is Dad going to be home as well.”

“I’m sorry, he told me this morning before he left to work that he would have to work overtime tonight.”

The girl in the pigtails fiddled with the bottom of her dress as she spoke. “That’s fine, I thought this would happen again anyway.”

“We can have fun just the three of us,” Yosuke spoke up, not thinking of the fact that he was over stepping into family matters until the words were already out in the air. Yu looked up, relief clear on his face.

“Oh! It’s almost time! Quick, quick, turn on the tv please!”

Yosuke scrambled for the remote on the table at Nanako’s command, flipping on the tv in time for the Junes jingle to blare through the speakers. He flinched, but Nanako only jumped up and sang the song at the top of her lungs. It was a reception he had not seen in a long time. No one liked Junes, and no one liked Yosuke for being associated with it, but here was a family who shopped at the department store regularly and got excited when the commercials came on.

He looked up at Yu for answers only to find the other boy already staring at him. Yu smirked as he sang along for the final notes. “Every day’s great at your Junes.”

With a snort, Yosuke fell down to the pillow again and let himself laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation he found himself in.

Yu had complimented him. Invited him into his home and offered food. The girl Yosuke thought was competition turned out to be Yu’s child cousin. They all sat in the living room of this giant house singing the jingle to the department store everyone in town hated Yosuke for.

He looked at the two in front of him, laughing at their confused faces. They didn’t hate him.

“Yosuke-oniisan, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry Nanako, you guys are just great singers and it took me by surprise.”

Nanako brightened. “We have lots of practice! Big Bro always sings with me before dinner.”

Yosuke looked up at Yu, still standing in the entryway and wiped the laughter-born tears from his eyes. “You have a nice Big Bro, Nanako, you better hold onto him.”

 

The curry was delicious, just like Yosuke had expected. It was spicy, and warmed him up from the insides. Nanako went to bed shortly after dinner, explaining to the boys that she had a big day tomorrow since she has a presentation about the solar system at school. Yosuke thanked her for letting him into her home, and was surprised when he received a big hug in response.

They sat in silence for a while after she left, Yu moved to flip on the game console and started up the game. When he sat back down beside him, Yosuke spoke up.

“Nanako is very sweet.”

“Yes,” Yu smiled softly down at his controller. “I appreciate her very much.”

“You can tell she appreciates you too, man.”

“My uncle is a detective, and has been tied up at the station lately. He doesn’t come home very often anymore.”

“Kinda like you then, huh?”

“Yes. She reminds me of myself at her age; grown up a little too soon. I’m just glad I can be with her on nights like this to keep her company.”

“It must’ve been lonely, growing up like that.”

“I found ways to fill my time, but it’s been nice here in Inaba. I feel like I actually have people who care about me now.”

“Hey Yu? You told me that you’d tell me why you’re even here after dinner earlier, yeah? I mean, I understand if you don’t wanna talk about it, but if you do…”

“I guess I owe you that much, don’t I?”

“Well, I mean, you don’t owe me anything.”

Yu smiled over at Yosuke, letting him know he was thankful of the sentiment. “It’s okay.” He sighed gently before continuing. “My parents actually set me up for an arranged marriage.”

“Wait, what?” Yosuke’s hands clenched around the controller’s grips.

“They want me to take over the family business, and they want to merge these two companies together to form a sort of corporate empire. She was nice, but – but it wasn’t what I wanted. I know it sounds cliché and dated, but I want to marry someone I care about, someone I truly love – not just a friend or a business deal.

“So, I made a deal with them. My parents would give me a year to find someone I thought was more suitable and they would call off the marriage. If I don’t, then I have to marry her still.”

“Lemme get this straight. You want to find true love so you came here to shitty little Inaba and started dating a person a week so you could avoid arranged marriage?”

“Basically, yes.”

“Well,” Yosuke leaned back on his hands, setting his controller down and peering at Yu, “I’m guessing it hasn’t been working out that well, since you’re still doing it.”

When Yu smiled in response, it was slightly sad. “I guess you could say that.”

Yosuke wished he hadn’t suggested the ruse of practice dating. He wished that he had never asked Yu out as a joke. He wished that all the kindness Yu had shown him would be in his life forever.

But it wasn’t real, and it certainly wasn’t forever. It was all a joke in the end, and next week on Monday Yu will be sitting here and Yosuke won’t be and Yu will be going out to that movie with a new girlfriend and Yosuke won’t even be a contact in his phone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall...... i am so sorry. i know i promised a double upload last week but Depression came in and kicked my sorry ass. i'm glad i'm able to at least (sort of) uphold my weekly update promise and give you this chapter!! 
> 
> I hope you like it and continue to enjoy the story as we wrap up (and yes, there are now 8 chapters)
> 
> I'm also sorry that I haven't been able to respond to your comments like i usually try to do because, well it's been a bit hard lately to even do internet conversations. please know that i read every one and they mean so much to me! i love all of you <3


	7. Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu realizes that he may have interpreted the signs wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew what an emotional roller coaster you are on Yu, i am so sorry

Yu stood in between fruit bins, debating whether or not to choose a white peach or if they were too expensive for his budget this week, when a heavy tap on his arm shook him free of the decision. When he looked over, he saw Chie standing next to him with a smile.

“Hey, Narukami!”

“Hello, how are you today?”

“I’m doin good, but hey, I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat later today?”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry but –“

“Ah, I almost forgot. The weekly girlfriend.”

“It’s not –“ Yu wanted to say that it wasn’t his intention, that he didn’t want it to just last one week, and Yosuke certainly wasn’t his girlfriend, but Chie just barreled on through, oblivious.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait until Monday then!” Chie winked at him as Yosuke walked up.

“Hey Partner, you almost ready? I’m absolutely starving.”

“Oh, Yosuke hey. Y’know what Narukami? I’m sorry, just forget what I said. See ya guys, have fun!”

Yosuke waved her off, confused. “What was that about? What’s she want you to forget?”

“She uh, just wanted help with homework over the weekend but remembered she was having a study group with Amagi.”

“Man, I don’t know why she would pass up a chance to study with the smartest guy in our grade!”

“You seem to be forgetting that Amagi is the smartest girl in our grade,” Yu countered.

“Psh yeah sure, but she’s not you.” Yosuke slung his arm around Yu’s shoulders and guided him towards the checkout lane, saving Yu from having to hide his embarrassed grin. “So, what’s on the menu tonight?”

“I figured yakisoba with chicken?”

“Dude, that’s perfect for a Saturday night. Okay, you gotta make a ton though because I am about to die of hunger. I completely forgot to eat before shift and I hardly got to get a granola bar in during break because all these customers kept bothering me.”

“I’ll make sure to make plenty.” Yu lined up his groceries on the belt, watching them get scanned slowly by the worker as he spoke. “But, I hope it’s okay that Nanako will be eating with us again tonight.”

“Yeah, actually – about that…” Yosuke trailed off. Yu could see him fidget with the hairs at the back of his neck out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t dare look over. He clenched his fingers around his debit card preparing for what the other might have to say. Yu had thought the night before had gone well, but maybe Yosuke was a better actor than he had bargained for. “I wanted to apologize.”

“What?” This got Yu to turn, unable to keep the shock from his features.

“I said some shit that I really didn’t mean and even made you hang up on your lil cousin for no reason. Nanako’s pretty awesome and I don’t really know what I was thinking.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“I do though – just – I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Yosuke, no harm done.”

“Thanks, Partner.” Yosuke’s smile was so bright Yu almost forgot to let go when the cashier reached for his card.

 

“I declare this day in history to be… drum roll please,” Yosuke paused, nudging a giggling Nanako until she pounded out a short beat on the small table. Once she completed her task to his approval, Yosuke slammed the Monopoly box down. “Official board game night!”

“Yaayy!!” Nanako yelled, clapping her hands. Yu joined in with a few claps of his own, but he was laughing too hard to speak.

“Now, as banker here I declare myself the bag of money, but you two must fight to the death over which of the lesser tokens you get.” Yosuke plucked the money bag out while speaking in the deepest voice he could manage. Nanako’s hand plunged into the pile shortly after.

“I call the doggy!”

“Alright, I’ll take the car.”

“Aw, c’mon Yu, you gotta fight Nanako-chan for the dog! Don’t give in so easily!”

Yu laughed, but he couldn’t help but think Yosuke’s words might strike a little too close to home. “I’ll have you know that I enjoy being the car.”

Yosuke waved him off and focused his energy into helping Nanako set up the board and count out the correct amount of money. Yu watched Nanako laugh and grab at the brightly colored paper cash as she joked that Yosuke was cheating and counting more into his piles. He could see that she was enjoying herself, perhaps the most that she had in a long time, but that Yosuke was genuinely enjoying himself as well. He had that big smile on his face, the one that lit up the room and caused anyone within view to smile until their cheeks hurt too, and he laughed along with Nanako’s antics and purposely kept counting wrong out loud.

Yu felt that his heart could burst in his chest. It felt so right, and he realized that this was the feeling he had been chasing all this time. It felt like family. It felt like home.

But it wasn’t secure. Yu could watch this scene and feel the warmth building up inside of him now, but it wasn’t a given that Yosuke would be here next Saturday night, or even tomorrow. A ball of lead sunk in his stomach, tethering him back to Earth. It was Sunday tomorrow, and it would all change. Strangely, Yu had gotten used to the constant that was Yosuke’s company, but there wasn’t a promise that Yosuke felt the same.

He suddenly felt the weight of the tickets in his pockets, where he had stashed them away, another force keeping him down. Yu looked up, seeing Yosuke and Nanako finally sort out the right amount of money, and wondered how he could ask.

Sure, there was the rule he had made: don’t hang out with those you have already broken up with. It was simple. It protected his boundaries and made those he dated feel better and safer in the relationship. Yet, he didn’t want it anymore. If Yosuke says goodbye Sunday, Yu can’t imagine a life without him in it anymore now that Yosuke has so loudly and firmly made himself a staple in it. He doesn’t want to lose him, even if they remain only as friends. But, at the same time, Yosuke didn’t fight the notion that Yu would even think about deleting him from his life.

_Is it still all just a joke?_

 

“Y’know,” Yosuke said, picking up the pieces of the unfinished game and dropping them back in the box, “I’m kinda glad that Nanako had to go to bed because I’m pretty sure if that went on any longer she woulda whopped my ass.”

“She’s a smart kid.”

“No kiddin! I don’t know what kinda career she’s lookin into but she’s gonna succeed in it no matter what.”

“Don’t tell her that or she’ll get a big head.” Yu reached down to help, making sure to carefully place his hand to keep it from reaching for Yosuke’s.

“True! Though I don’t know, I think she’s pretty humble.”

“You’re right, she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

“But, um,” Yosuke coughed, looking away as Yu looked up at the sound, “I know I totally said this last night but, she is real lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have her too.”

“Yeah, you got a nice lil family going on here. I know things are rough for you back home but, I hope you know it’s not just Nanako that appreciates you. I do to, and uh, I guess I’m trying to say that I’m here for you, if you need anything.”

Yu smiled, finally letting his hand rest upon Yosuke’s. “I appreciate you too.”

Belatedly, Yu realized his face was much closer to Yosuke’s than he thought. He didn’t remember how or when he had moved, or if it was Yosuke that made the move but soon Yosuke’s breath was tickling his nose and he could see his partner’s brown eyes flicking between his own eyes and his lips. He didn’t know who moved that last inch closer, but Yu didn’t have time to care as Yosuke kissed him and he kissed Yosuke.

It was longer than their first kiss, but just as hesitant. It was a game of chicken, testing the waters and testing their feelings, and Yu wanted neither of them to lose. As he brought his other hand up to softly cup Yosuke’s jaw like he had wanted to since Wednesday, the sharp ring of his cell phone shocked Yosuke away.

They stared at each other, unable to say anything until Yosuke looked away and broke the silence.

“Are you gonna answer that?”

Yu was startled that he would even make the suggestion; that Yosuke would even dare imply that a silly phone call would take precedent over kissing him, but his autopilot switched on and Yu lunged for the phone on the table.

Unknown caller.

Yu knew Yosuke could see the name – that he knew what is was – by the sharp but defeated tone of his voice. “Aren’t you going to answer that, Yu?”

It wasn’t really a question. They both knew he wouldn’t answer.

Scrambling for a sort of foothold, Yu tore the tickets from his pockets and thrust them towards Yosuke.

“I don’t know if you are still free but, next week I’d like to go to the premiere with you.”

“As friends?” Yosuke growled, face scrunching up in anger that Yu had never seen before. He couldn’t formulate words to respond. It was Yosuke who didn’t want to date in the first place, so why couldn’t they go as friends? In a brief epiphany, Yu wondered if he had read everything wrong. Maybe Yosuke didn’t even like him as a friend. Just an acquaintance. Just a person you meet on the street and say hi to. Nothing more. Yu didn’t have time to answer before Yosuke was speaking again. “Nevermind. I’m gonna head home for today I think.”

“Wait, but it’s getting late – “

“It’s been a long day,” Yu had never heard Yosuke sound so tired, not even when he complained in class or slept through first period. “I’d like to go home and get some rest now.”

“Well, at least let me walk you home.”

Yosuke hesitated, slowing as he stood up to leave, before he sighed. “I guess that’s fine.”

It was silent once again as they pulled on their shoes and walked out into the night. Yu grabbed the spare key and locked up, fumbling in a rush thinking that Yosuke would leave without him, but the other boy was there when he turned around, looking up at the clouded sky. Not a single star graced their presence, but the moon still lit the way. The sounds of summer came to life around them; the rainy season still on nature’s mind but not in the way of the lifestyle.

Yu didn’t know how they ended the night under the spell of hesitation and awkwardness, but he concluded that it was perhaps his fault, and waited for Yosuke to bridge the gap when he was ready. It came when they reached the pavilion, and all too familiar place for Yu’s comfort.

“Y’know. I didn’t really think about you a lot, but I wondered why everyone liked you so much. I was the new kid too, the city kid with the cool stories to tell, so I thought it would pass. Everyone would just stop talkin about you like they did me. But it didn’t stop. All the girls fuckin adore you even though you break all their hearts and everyone still wants to be your friend and I just,” Yosuke lifted his hands up, rubbing tiredly at his eyes, “I didn’t get it. The funny part is, I do now. It’s just you.

“You’re just you and there’s something about it that’s so kind and genuine and comfortable that makes it impossible for people to hate you. And trust me, I’ve tried. I was jealous that you could get all these dates while I was struggling just to have two friends that probably couldn’t care less about me.”

“Yosuke I –“

“And it’s fucking annoying!” Yu closed his jaw with a clack as Yosuke continued. “My mind is trying to like, figure out all of these mixed messages and shit and I can’t stop overthinking and I’m annoyed at myself and I’m annoyed at you and I’m annoyed at everything. But even now, I can’t stop thinking.”

“About what?”

“Uncertainties.”

“What do you mean?” Yu took a step forward, but stopped again when Yosuke finally made eye contact.

“I’m really not cut out for this.”

The rock was back in Yu’s stomach, but this time he was nowhere near a flight risk. Instead he was just sinking into the concrete. His mouth felt dry, any words he could have managed to form sticking to the inner walls of his cheeks like cotton. Distantly, he remembered that he still had Yosuke’s phone number saved, still sat in front of him in class – even if Yosuke was saying to end it now, there was still a frayed rope connecting them, left over from the bridge. But Yosuke wasn’t done.

“The tickets, let me see them.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command and Yu wasn’t in the state of mind to refuse. He passed them over, willing his hand to stop shaking.

Yosuke grabbed them, only hesitating for a moment before the papers were in shards and blown into the river. As he watched them float away, Yu tried to grasp on to the hope that tried to dash away with them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Yu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god guys?? I don't know when it happened but this fic passed 100 kudos and 1000 hits and I !!! I never expected that so many people would read and enjoy this fic I love all of you dearly <3
> 
> Thank you all as well for the well wishes. my life is picking up now and i'm feeling a lot better, though i must say i'm sad to be ending this fic soon. can you believe it?? one chapter left. wow.


	8. Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke realizes that proper communication does wonders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sweats

Working at Junes always found a way to be stressful. There were the customers constantly complaining about the passing deals and specials of the company, and of course, according to them, the fact that Junes came into Inaba solely for the purpose of destroying the community and their local stores. Then there are the coworkers who seem to think that Yosuke had the same amount of command within the company as his father.

Which, pissed Yosuke off more than customers. He was used to the voices of his peers complaining about Junes ruining businesses, but he couldn’t understand why his coworkers thought he had any influence.

 _If I did_ , Yosuke thought, kicking a box of grape juice out of his way, _I wouldn’t be sitting here doing the fucking stocking._

He hated the long hours in the back sorting through inventory. Sometimes, when it was later in the day or early enough in the morning there wouldn’t be too many customers, which meant that Yosuke wouldn’t be bothered by questions from coworkers. At these moments, Yosuke enjoyed being able to blast music through his headphones to pass the time and complete the mediocre tasks with a little more fun.

Today however, not even the music could pick up his mood. He felt sluggish, even as upbeat dance music played into his ears. Today, his nerves won out against the power of his music.

It was finally Sunday. Yosuke could feel the weight of the day on his shoulders with every move, yet at the same time, it managed to fill him with a sort of determination.

Sunday. The end of the week. The last day.

The finality of it still managed to surprise him, though he knew the day would arrive no matter what. He may not have the best grades, but he did pass kindergarten. Yet still, everything felt so short and ephemeral. Yosuke had never wanted so badly to slow down time.

A hail over the radio shook Yosuke out of his thoughts. Yet another thing he hated about being the boss’ son was that since he knew his way around the store and all its workings like he knew the back of his hand every time someone needed help in a department he would always be the first one paged. Yosuke closed the box of product he was counting with a sigh and collected his clipboard, heading over to the tech department to hear out the complaint.

“Hana-chan! You’re finally here.” The tech assistant, Saki, stood behind the main counter with her hand on her hip. She spoke sharply, but softened he words with a smile.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“There’s this guy staring at the large tv’s over there. I kept trying to see if he needs any help, but he hasn’t been responding at all. Some of the others are getting creeped out by him and we can’t show other customers the flat screens because he’s totally in the way.”

“And literally no one in the actual tech department can do anything?”

“Like I said, he has been ignoring all of us.”

“Sure, I’ll just use my magical powers then and whoosh him away.”

“Jeez Hana-chan, you know you have a way with customers that none of us have.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Saki senpai.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

Yosuke sighed and tightened up the ties of his apron. “Yeah, of course.”

He hated being the one called in when customers were being rude or generally awful in any way, since it really wasn’t his job, but from experience he knew Saki was right and that he was the best at it. The less calls his dad received complaining the better. Yosuke followed her directions to the wall of TVs, until he rounded the corner and nearly ran into someone.

“Oh god, sorry!” Yosuke grabbed in front of him, taking hold of the person’s shoulder so they wouldn’t fall.

“Don’t worry about it, Yosuke. It’s probably just as much my fault.”

Yosuke was shaken for a moment at someone using his name, until he realized that he was standing with Yu’s upper arm in his hand. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here. Can I help you find something or…?”

“Ah,” Yu looked away and tapped his fingers against the screen of one of the TVs, “I just kind of found myself here. I was wondering if Nanako would like a bigger, better TV. Sadly, however, I can’t afford it so I suppose there’s no use in thinking about it anymore.”

“Yeah they’re kinda expensive man.” Yosuke scratched the back of his head, feeling slightly awkward. “Have you, uh, seen a random guy here kinda just staring or something? Some of the girls called me ‘cause there’s some creeper.”

“I regret to inform you, but I believe that creeper may be me.”

“Wait, what?”

Yu smiled sheepishly, finally making eye contact again. “I believe I zoned out while standing here for a while.”

“Dude, there’s no way. You are like, the definition of a lady’s man or like charm master or something. There’s no way you are that off your game.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.” Yu’s smile turned slightly strained. He looked to Yosuke like he might start speaking again, but then seemed to think better of it.

“Okay, well I guess mystery solved then! Makes my job easier. But, uh, I’ve never seen you so off before. Are you doing okay?”

“Yosuke actually –“ Loud feedback from Yosuke’s radio interrupted Yu, followed by a disembodied voice calling for Yosuke’s help in restacking the toilet paper pyramid.

“I’ve gotta get that but hey, I’m off at 4. Can we meet up at the floodplains tonight? We can talk about, uh, stuff.”

“Sure, I’ll see you at about 4:30 then.”

“Perfect, sorry to end short. Bye!”

 

He slowed his steps about a block away from Junes. Yosuke could see the top of the white gazebo in the distance, and could feel the butterflies growing in his stomach as more and more of the structure came into view. He couldn’t see Yu yet, but he could feel that he was already there waiting. He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, shoved his shaking hands in his pockets, and proceeded up the hill.

Like he expected, Yu was watching the river rush by while he sat on the boulders. Yosuke allowed himself to stop again, and watch as well. If his plan went well, maybe this would not be the last time he was allowed to gaze upon Yu so freely, but he didn’t want to make himself any promises he may not be able to keep.

The sun was still decently high in the sky, letting off it’s summer heat before it would plunge below the horizon once again to let the coolness of the evening take over. The rays danced across the surface of the water, reflecting back the colors of the landscape around, but also lit up Yu’s hair – changing the grey strands almost to white. Yosuke chuckled to himself, thinking that it kinda made Yu look like an old man. From the position he looked on from, he couldn’t much see Yu’s face, which added to the old man illusion.

He briefly wondered to himself if he would ever actually get to look upon Yu’s face as they aged and grew, or if he would remain with his back turned to him forever.

A jogger passing by behind reminded Yosuke of where he was, and his mission. He stole himself, then walked down to announce himself to Yu.

“Hey Partner, hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

Yu looked up slowly, as if he wasn’t surprised by his sudden company. He patted the space on the rock next to him. “No, but it’s nice to relax outside for a while anyway. I think I’ve been cooped up a little too much lately with school.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that you’re in like ten million clubs, too.”

“You may be right, but I do enjoy them.”

“I guess it’s worth it then. Even if it can be a lot of work, if you enjoy something it’s worth the effort.”

Yu gazed at Yosuke, something softening his stoic, scripted expression. “I’ll have to agree with you on that.”

Yosuke turned away, watching the patterns of the light dance from his new vantage point. Silence descended, but he felt like not even he wanted to break the safety of their silence. Yet, it had to come to an end.

“Yosuke,” Yu began, Yosuke could see that he was still staring at him intently from the corner of his eye, “even next week, I would like to continue hanging out with you like this; walking to school, eating dinner with Nanako –“

“No.” The finality of it surprised even Yosuke, but he could not take back his words now. He gathered all the courage left in his body, all that he had never used at school or at work or at home, and spoke. “I’m not willing to have that sort of strained relationship with you, Yu.”

“So, that’s what you meant.” When Yosuke turned, confused, Yu cracked a sad smile before continuing. “When you ripped up the tickets, that’s what you meant.”

Yosuke didn’t bother answering, too afraid to go off script and lose momentum. “What time does it end?”

For a moment, Yu was silent. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh that Yosuke could hear was shaking. He waited a few seconds after opening his eyes to speak. “That’s not up to me.”

“Alright then,” Yosuke pulled out his phone, cursing his own shaking hands. 4:44. He tilted the screen so he could be sure that Yu could see as well. “At 4:45 then. There’s no point in waiting.”

They watched the screen in silence until the minute flipped and read 4:45. Yosuke waited another moment for Yu to speak, but nothing came.

“Well,” he let out an ironic chuckle to calm himself, “I’m glad you didn’t tell me ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t fall in love with you’. I don’t know if I could have handled that.”

Yu peered up at him, squinting as if he was trying not to cry.

“Narukami Yu, will you go out with me?”

Yu’s face transformed, wide open with surprise before it returned to a squint, this time out of confusion. “Wait, what?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to just be friends, no, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to, because, well, I love you. I asked you out as a dumb joke and then chickened out but over the past week, but spending time with you has been the highlight and I don’t want to go back to not having that light. And I know this may not sound believable but fuck, I love you. And I’m selfish. I can’t just watch you get stolen away from me, so even if you don’t feel the same way, please go out with me and I can show you a better side of me – better than what I’ve shown you this past week.”

“Wait just a minute –“

“I know that probably sounds dumb but I swear, I will work as hard as I need to to make sure you can fall in love with me.”

“That was so sly, Yosuke.”

“Y’know, if I waited until tomorrow morning one of those girls would have already stolen you away. I didn’t want to risk anything. But I have one condition: this isn’t wouldn’t be any of your weekly dating anymore. I want you to date me for real. I can wait for you to think about it, cause I know it’s askin a lot but –“

Yosuke was interrupted when Yu crushed his lungs in a tight hug. They wobbled for a moment, almost falling into the river, but they managed to stay upright.

“I’ve had something that I’ve been wanting to say this whole time that I was too scared to say. I never imagined – all along I was just so afraid.”

“What – what is it?”

The hug tightened, and Yosuke could feel the next words Yu mumbled against his neck more than he could hear them. “I love you too, Yosuke.”

“N-no way. That’s not –“

“Yosuke, I love you too.”

“But, I mean,” Yosuke struggled for words, gripping his hands in the back of Yu’s t-shirt as if the other boy would slip away as he stumbled through his swirling thoughts. “What about you’re parents? What would they say?”

“Yosuke, just a moment ago you were claiming that no matter what you would make me fall in love with you, and now you say this?”

“Well I sure as hell wasn’t expecting you would actually – you would actually say that.”

Yosuke felt the huff of Yu’s laughter. “Nothing has to be solved right now, but I have a feeling everything will be alright. We never agreed on the specific gender of my partner anyway.”

“Yu I –“

“Yosuke please.”

“Yu, I – I’m so happy.” Yosuke nuzzled his own face into Yu’s shoulder, mimicking the other boy’s position to hide the tears streaming down his face. “I’m so happy.”

Yu pulled back, moving his hands up from Yosuke’s shoulders to cup his cheeks in his hands. He smiled as he wiped away a few of the tears that still spilled out. “I’m happy too.”

Without a second thought, Yosuke pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW WOOOOWW 
> 
> I'm so sorry for making y'all wait to whole week oh my god. I actually had the hardest time writing this chapter. While it's only been 2 months writing it, this is the longest fic I have ever written, and the first multi chapter one (now) that I've officially finished in a long time. It's been a huge test for me, but I've enjoyed all of it. It's been through a lot these past two months with me (honestly so much) and I didn't really want to part with it. 
> 
> THank you all for reading, and commenting, and kudo-ing. You have all been so kind and a big inspiration. I hope I can write for you all again, but I'll most likely take a break as my new job picks up and i finish summer classes. 
> 
> reminder that you can find me on tumblr @ phantomtheives !! 
> 
> Thank you again! I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> playing p5 made me really miss my boys so i decided to finally get around to writing fic for them even though its 2k17.
> 
> idk if anyone even cares about them, much less seven days, but both are good so i wanted to write it anyway. and if you do care, you should read seven days. its a bit old now, but still cute
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! i want to be posting weekly or bi-weekly if possible to finish this fic out so stay tuned for the embarrassing adventures of miscommunication.
> 
> also, chat with me on tumblr @ phantomtheives i don't have enough persona friends


End file.
